Scrap metal recycling company Conservit has reportedly been granted a setback appeal by the Washington County (Maryland) Zoning Appeals Board to install a conveyor belt at its scrap yard in Hagerstown, Maryland.

An online article by the Hagerstown-based Herald-Mail reports that Conservit President Jack Metzner has said the radial conveyor will be in a fixed position on the property and would be able to pivot 180 degrees.

Sappi North America joins The Recycling Partnership

Boston-based Sappi North America, a producer and supplier of paper and packaging products, has become a funding partner of The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia. The national nonprofit uses corporate funding to improve recycling efforts in communities across the U.S.

The Recycling Partnership says less than half of recyclables in U.S. homes are getting captured for recycling; just 22 million tons out of an available 46 million tons are recycled every year. While the funding and management of recycling systems historically have fallen on the shoulders of cities and towns across the country, through The Recycling Partnership nearly 40 companies, including Sappi, are committing financial resources to work with the nonprofit and local governments to improve recycling.

Since 2015, The Recycling Partnership says it has invested more than $27 million in corporate funding toward recycling infrastructure.

“Sappi North America has been part of The Recycling Partnership through the Recycling Works in Publishing (RWIP),” says Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership. “We are grateful to have them now on board as a direct partner. The work Sappi has done throughout Maine and beyond with co-funding pedestrian recycling bins has been very successful. We look forward to working with their team on generating new ideas and partnerships to improve recycling in cities and towns across the United States.”

Laura Thompson, director of sustainable development and global policy initiatives, Sappi North America, says Sappi is committed to sustainability, particularly waste reduction and the best use of materials. “We’re excited to further this work by supporting The Recycling Partnership in its mission to transform recycling for good in the U.S.,” she says. “We are proud of the work that we have already completed with the Partnership over the years, and we are ready to make an even larger impact on recycling in our country moving forward.”

For the last two years, Thompson has served as the chair of RWIP. Last fall, Sappi worked with The Recycling Partnership to launch a recycling cart program in the city of Portland, Maine, increasing access to recycling for the city’s residents. The Portland project is helping to inform greater collaboration with the Ocean Conservancy and its Trash Free Seas initiative, a public awareness program designed to educate consumers and reduce pollution in the world’s oceans. Sappi also is a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), and a supporter of ASTRX, a joint initiative between SPC and The Recycling Partnership, which aims to increase recycling by strengthening each element of the materials supply chain to create reliable and valuable manufacturing feedstock.

“The paper industry has very high recycling rates compared to other materials,” Thompson says. “Recent statistics show we are recovering over two-thirds of paper in circulation—but that means there are still nearly 20 million tons of paper-based materials that are not being recovered each year. Through efforts such as designing for recyclability to improving infrastructure, access and education, we can further improve our industry’s recycling efforts,” she says. “We see The Recycling Partnership as a key player in making this goal a reality, and we’re proud to help further its mission.”

World crude steel production posts incremental gain in January

World crude steel production in January 2018 for the 64 countries reporting to the Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) was 139.4 million metric tons, a 0.8 percent increase compared with January 2017, the association notes.

Charts courtesy of Worldsteel

China again led the way in terms of crude steel production. The country produced 67 million metric tons in January 2018, a decrease of 0.9 percent compared with January 2017. Japan produced 9 million metric tons of crude steel for the month, an increase of 0.3 percent from January 2017. India produced 9 million metric tons of crude steel during the month, an increase of 2.5 percent from January 2017.

The U.S. produced 6.8 million metric tons of crude steel in January 2018, a 2.2 percent decrease from January 2017.

At 3.2 million metric tons, Turkey’s crude steel production in January 2018 increased by 7.6 percent compared with January 2017.

Brazil’s crude steel production for January 2018 was 2.9 million metric tons, an increase of 1.3 percent compared with January 2017.

In the European Union, Italy’s crude steel production for January 2018 was 2 million metric tons, for an increase of 5.3 percent compared with January 2017. France produced 1.4 million metric tons of crude steel, a 3 percent increase compared with the previous year. Spain produced 1.1 million metric tons, a 1 percent decrease relative to January 2017.

The crude steel capacity utilization ratio of the 64 countries in January 2018 was 70 percent, or 0.2 percentage points lower than in January 2017. Compared with December 2017, it is 0.7 percentage points higher, Worldsteel reports.

Rutland, Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems Inc., a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, has reported revenue increases in the fourth quarter of 2017 and for the full year, which ended Dec. 31, 2017. In its 2018 guidance, Casella Waste predicts further revenue gains.

For the fourth quarter and full year, Casella has reported:

revenue of $151.2 million, up $7.4 million, or 5.2 percent, from the same period in 2016 and revenue of $599.3 million, up $34.3 million, or 6.1 percent, from fiscal 2016;

net income of $20 million as compared with a net loss of $12 million for the same period in 2016 and a net loss of $21.8 million compared with a net loss $(6.9) million in fiscal 2016;

adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders of $4.6 million compared with $1.9 million for the same period in 2016 and $28.7 million compared with $7.8 million in fiscal 2016;

adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $30.2 million, up $800,000, or 2.8 percent, from the same period in 2016 and $129 million, an increase of $8.4 million, or 7 percent, from fiscal 2016;

net cash provided by operating activities of $107.5 million for the fiscal year, up $27.1 million, or 33.7 percent, from fiscal 2016; and

normalized free cash flow of $38.8 million for the fiscal year, up $11.7 million, or 43.1 percent, from fiscal 2016.

"We had a strong operational quarter and a great year, as we continued to execute well against our key strategies," says John W. Casella, chairman and CEO of Casella Waste Systems. "We remain focused on creating shareholder value through increasing landfill returns, improving collection profitability, creating incremental value through resource solutions, driving general and administrative efficiencies and strong capital discipline."

He adds that the progress the company has made is visible in Casella Waste’s financial results in the fourth quarter. "Our disciplined solid waste pricing programs continued to add value, with landfill pricing up 3.6 percent and collection pricing up 3.7 percent. This strong pricing was coupled with 2 percent solid waste volume growth, mainly driven by 4.8 percent growth in landfill volumes as we continued to source new volumes in the tightening northeastern disposal markets and 1.2 percent solid waste revenue growth from acquisitions."

Casella says the company has set a goal to grow revenue by $20 million to $40 million per year through acquisition or development activity for the next three years. “We are off to a great start with this strategy, with roughly $18 million of acquired revenues over the last two months. During the fourth quarter, we completed a small tuck-in hauling acquisition, and in early January 2018 we completed the acquisition of an integrated solid waste company in western Massachusetts that provides us with a new market entrance and a strategic truck- and rail-served transfer station that will enable us to direct additional waste volumes to our landfills in New York and Pennsylvania,” he says. “Our acquisition pipeline remains robust, and we believe that investing a portion of our excess cash flows to grow our business will create additional shareholder returns through higher cash flow growth rates driven by new revenue streams, internalization to our disposal facilities and cost synergies."

Revenue growth in the fourth quarter was driven primarily by robust collection and disposal pricing, strong solid waste volumes, the roll-over impact from acquisitions and higher volumes in the customer solutions line-of-business, partially offset by lower recycling commodity pricing and volumes, the company says.

Net income attributable to common stockholders was $20 million, or 46 cents per diluted common share, an increase of $32 million for the fourth quarter as compared with net loss attributable to common stockholders of $12 million, or 29 cents per diluted common share, for the same period in 2016.

Operating income was $9.9 million for the fourth quarter, down $100,000 from the same period in 2016, whereas adjusted operating income was $10.3 million for the fourth quarter, down $600,000 from the same period in 2016.

"During the fourth quarter, operating income was down approximately $2 million year over year in our recycling business," Casella says. "This decline was mainly driven by China's National Sword program, which imposed strict new contamination standards for recycled commodities and significantly reduced global demand for paper and cardboard products. This has led to mixed paper price declines of approximately 80 percent from July 2017 to January 2018, while at the same time our operating costs are up as we have slowed sorting lines and increased labor to produce higher quality end products.”

He adds, “Our mature risk mitigation programs, such as the Sustainability Recycling Adjustment fee, have worked well to offset the majority of commodity price declines during the quarter, and we expect these programs to continue to significantly reduce our commodity risk exposure."

Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $21.8 million, or 52 cents per diluted common share, a decrease of $15 million for the fiscal year compared with net loss attributable to common stockholders of $6.8 million, or 17 cents per diluted common share, for fiscal 2016.

Adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders was $28.7 million, or 67 cents of adjusted diluted earnings per common share, for the fiscal year, compared with adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders of $7.8 million, or 19 cents of adjusted diluted earnings per common share, for fiscal 2016.

Operating loss was $12.6 million for the fiscal year, down $57.5 million from operating income of $44.9 million in fiscal 2016, whereas adjusted operating income was $52.8 million for the fiscal year, up $6.9 million from fiscal 2016.

"Our fiscal year 2018 budget is on track with the fiscal year 2021 strategic plan that we first introduced in August 2017 and reflects continued execution of our key strategies with the goal of driving additional shareholder value," Casella said. "We remain cautious about near-term headwinds from the recycling business; however, we believe that our mature risk mitigation programs will continue to offset the vast majority of commodity price declines and current market conditions are contemplated in our fiscal year 2018 guidance."

The company provided guidance for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2018, by estimating results in the following ranges:

revenue between $618 million and $628 million (compared with $599.3 million in fiscal 2017);

adjusted EBITDA between $135 million and $139 million (compared with $129 million in fiscal 2017); and

normalized free cash flow of between $42 million and $46 million (compared with $38.8 million in fiscal 2017).

A number of assumptions are built into the company’s outlook:

Overall, Casella Waste says it expects revenue growth of between 4.6 percent and 6.3 percent in fiscal 2018. However, the company says it expects that the adoption of the new revenue recognition standard to lower revenue by approximately 1.5 percent. Given this change, Casella Waste expects revenue growth of between 3.1 percent and 4.8 percent in fiscal 2018.

In the solid waste business, it predicts revenue growth of between 6 percent and 7.5 percent, with price growth from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent, volume growth from 0.5 percent to 1 percent, and 3 percent growth from acquisitions already completed.

In the Other segment, overall revenue growth of approximately 5 percent is expected, with growth in the industrial segment for the Customer Solutions group and higher volumes in the Organics group, the company says.

The budget includes the roll-over impact of acquisitions completed during fiscal 2017 and in early fiscal 2018 but does not include any acquisitions that have not yet been completed.

The company says it expects capital expenditures of approximately $65 million and payments on operating leases of approximately $7.5 million.

Casella Waste also assumes no material changes in the regional economy from the last 12 months.

The grants are used by local communities for programs to prevent and clean up unauthorized dumps; to aid in hiring local solid waste enforcement officers; for public education efforts on solid waste disposal and recycling; and to establish programs for the collection of white goods, bulky wastes and recyclables.

The recent recipients of the state’s solid waste planning or recycling grants include:

Northeast Mississippi Solid Waste Authority, Walnut, Mississippi: a solid waste planning grant of $36,000 that will be used for a solid waste management plan. The authority serves seven counties in the state.

Yazoo City, Mississippi: a $24,000 two-year waste tire grant to continue its local waste tire collection program for small quantity generators of waste tires. Funding for the tire grants is provided by a waste tire account funded from a fee charged on the wholesale sale of every new motor vehicle tire sold in the state.

Neshoba County: $22,800 that will be used by the county for a solid waste management plan.

Claiborne County: $38,344 that will be used for a solid waste enforcement officer and its cleanup program.

Warren County: $50,000 that will be used for a household hazardous waste collection event on June 16 and for illegal dumpsite cleanup.

Cities and counties in Mississippi may apply for Solid Waste Assistance Grants through the state’s DEQ.